


Not Real

by jacquelee



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-23 02:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17674730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Inside the alien simulation, Sara has to say goodbye to Laurel again.Set during Arrow season 5 episode 8 Invasion.





	Not Real

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Superhero_land](https://superhero-land.livejournal.com/) for the song Hurts Like Hell by Fleurie.

_Dreams fight with machines_   
_Inside my head like adversaries_   
_I loved and I loved and I lost you_   
_And it hurts like hell_

Sara tried to keep her mind concentrated on the current situation. On what she needed to do, what was necessary for all of them to escape this simulation or whatever it was. 

Apparently she was able to influence it in some way now that she was aware of it because she was just thinking about changing out of her dress and into something more comfortable for the inevitable fighting she fully expected to happen and when she went back to her room that wasn't actually her room, loose fitting workout clothes just happened to be lying on the bed, even when she was sure she hadn't put them there.

Not wanting to dwell on what that implied, she changed quickly and found Ray, talking to him about how everything here was fake. He was convinced surprisingly fast, and Sara started to think that this hallucination or whatever it was was starting to crumble. 

Carefully avoiding to even think about Laurel, she told Ray to wait outside with Dig and found Thea, just to be even more surprised by her already knowing that all of this was fake but not wanting to leave. 

In a way, Sara could understand her. She had a point, her parents were alive here, Laurel was alive. It felt like a physical wound every time Sara thought about how she had felt just a few hours ago – or what seemed like a few hours anyways – when she had been sure that her sister was alive and well, when she hugged her, finally hugged her again, something she had been dreaming about for years. 

But it wasn't real. In a way, it was just another dream, a dream that was at the same time a fight against hostile aliens that wanted to lull them into a feeling of safety to whatever end. And Sara was too much of a fighter and a pragmatist to let them get away with that. 

So she left. So she fought when the pushback happened, when her worst nightmare literally appeared on the doorstep. She had to admit, it was satisfying to drive an arrow through Damien Darhk's heart, even when it wasn't real.

And then Laurel called out to them, standing there, looking so lost and confused, and Sara's resolve nearly crumbled. This was the one thing that could ever even slightly make her want to stay here, want to give up and let the aliens get away with whatever they were planning just so she could stay in her sister's arms for a few moments longer. 

It was agony. The tears were now streaming down her face and she didn't even care about it anymore. It was as if she was losing Laurel all over again. She had to pry herself away from her arms, telling herself the entire time that this was not actually Laurel. Nothing here was real.

And still, it felt real enough for her heart to break all over again.


End file.
